Study Group 13 – ITU Newsloghttp://newslog.itu.int
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 14:44:47 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1ITU Blog: Are ICTs deserving of our trust?http://newslog.itu.int/archives/1303
Wed, 29 Jun 2016 08:15:01 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=1303To what extent are we willing to trust that data will be used for the purposes expressed by data custodians? How do we decide whether an information and communication technology (ICT) resource performs its function reliably enough to be deserving of our trust? And how are these decisions affected by the level of trust prevailing in the ICT ecosystem, an ecosystem where a technology’s ability to be trustworthy is affected by the degree to which it can trust the other technologies with which it interacts?

These questions will grow in importance as we approach year 2020, the expected arrival of the era of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Sustainable Cities.

Geneva, 18 December 2015 – ITU members have approved the first ITU standard on Big Data. The international standard details the requirements, capabilities and use cases of cloud-based Big Data as well a high-level ‘system context’ view and its relationships with other entities. The Big Data paradigm provides an effective, scalable solution to deal with growing volumes of data and uncover patterns or other information capable of making data manageable and profitable. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) are enabling masses of data to be generated, transmitted and stored, and this explosive growth is increasing in pace. Datasets have become so large and complex, and are generated so fast, that traditional approaches to data processing are proving inadequate. Achieving efficient analysis of data within required timeframes is a significant challenge, one that industry will address using technologies in the field of Big Data.

]]>ITU Blog: Softwarization, 5G and the new dynamics of the ICT industryhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/1187
Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:14:43 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=1187We cannot underestimate the impact that ‘softwarization’ is having on today’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry, or what will it mean for the industry of the 5G era.

Despite being expensive and error-prone, manual configuration of ICT resources was the norm for many years. In the large datacentres introduced over the past 15 to 20 years, this manual configuration became an impossible feat. The Internet companies, or ‘over-the-top’ players, managing these gargantuan datacentres began to pioneer the development of automation mechanisms – softwarization mechanisms – to configure the hundreds or thousands of servers and other resources found in a modern datacentre.

This automation is now making its way into the telecoms industry at an astounding pace…

Read the full blog article authored by Peter Ashwood-Smith, Huawei Senior Researcher and Technical VP-Optical, Chairman of the ITU-T Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (5G).

Geneva, 17 December – The ITU-T Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (‘5G’) has received an extension to its lifetime, with a mandate to undertake in-depth studies into areas such as ‘network softwarization’ and slicing, emerging networking technologies, mobile backhaul and fronthaul, and end-to-end quality of service (QoS). New Terms of Reference call for the group to engage open-source communities, influencing and taking advantage of their work by introducing them to the challenges that telecoms players must overcome in the development of the 5G ecosystem.

The Focus Group’s vision of the 5G era is of a highly dynamic information and communication technology (ICT) industry characterized by the entrance of new players to the networking business and new opportunities for telecoms companies. The approach to year 2020 will play host to the emergence of new business models capitalizing on the transformative effects of softwarization and the associated convergence of open-source and telecoms communities.

In 2012, ITU established a programme on International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for 2020 and beyond, which provides the framework for 5G research and development worldwide. ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is coordinating the international standardization for 5G mobile development. ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is expected to play a similar convening role for the technologies and architectures of the wireline elements of 5G networks.

FG IMT-2020 was established in April 2015 as an open platform to collect stakeholders’ views on the required form of ITU-T’s contribution to 5G standardization. The group took an ecosystem view of 5G research and development to identify the wireline innovations required to enable the 5G era.

The Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 13, Leo Lehmann of Switzerland’s Federal Office of Communications, has developed an overview of how ITU-T Study Group 13’s work on Future Networks will support ITU-T’s contribution to 5G standardization. The overview is the first post to the new ‘SG13 Chairman’s Blog’, a space to learn more about key areas of ITU-T Study Group 13’s standardization work. Read the first blog post on ‘SG13 and Future Networks’ here…

]]>New ITU-T standard on cloud-based Big Datahttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/1027
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:07:07 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=1027ITU members have achieved first-stage approval (‘consent’) of the first ITU-T standard on Big Data. The standard details the requirements, capabilities and use cases of cloud-based Big Data as well as its ‘system context’, a high-level view of a cloud-based Big Data system and its relationships with other entities.

Advances in ICT are enabling masses of data to be generated, transmitted and stored, and this explosive growth is increasing in pace. Datasets have become so large and complex, and are generated so fast, that traditional approaches to data processing are proving inadequate. Achieving efficient analysis of data within required timeframes is a significant challenge, one that industry will address using technologies in the field of Big Data.

The new standard, Recommendation ITU-T Y.3600 “Requirements and capabilities for cloud computing based big data”, was developed by ITU-T’s expert group responsible for future networks, cloud computing and network aspects of mobile communications, ITU-T Study Group 13.

ITU-T Y.3600 describes the meaning of Big Data and the characteristics of the Big Data ecosystem from a standardization perspective. The standard outlines how cloud computing systems can be leveraged to provide Big Data services, assisting industry in the management of large datasets incapable of being transferred and analyzed using traditional data-management technologies.

In addition to its description of the fundamentals of cloud-based Big Data, ITU-T Y.3600 provides definitions of Big Data and Big Data as a Service (BDaaS):

Big Data is a paradigm for enabling the collection, storage, management, analysis and visualization, potentially under real-time constraints, of extensive datasets with heterogeneous characteristics.

BDaaS is a cloud service category in which the capabilities provided to the cloud service customer are the ability to collect, store, analyze, visualize and manage data using Big Data technologies.

For more information on ITU-T Study Group 13, please consult the group’s homepage.

]]>ITU Blog: Always-on Internet and the importance of traffic management to 5G and OTThttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/1025
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 09:43:03 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=1025Enabling free and open exchange of information was one of the founding principles of the Internet. Upholding this principle calls for constant innovation, with the ICT community always in search of smarter ways to increase the carrying capacity and routing efficiency of the world’s networks. This search is endless. The volume of traffic running over the Internet is always growing, as is the variety of available services, applications and content.

Operators’ decisions in network management are informed by the needs of their subscribers, whose appetite for over-the-top (OTT) services seems boundless.

The ICT industry has come up with innovation after innovation to satisfy the world’s hunger for bandwidth. Greater connectivity and broader bandwidth were achieved with Next-Generation Networks (NGNs), optical broadband and IMT-Advanced (4G) mobile-wireless systems. Following NGNs and 4G, Future Networks and IMT-2020 (5G) systems will do the same. With each step forward, the industry finds new ways of supporting an increasing number and diversity of bandwidth-hungry services and applications.

ITU-T standards offer blueprints for highly configurable smart networks with the flexibility necessary to account for large and unpredictable changes in bandwidth use. Efficient traffic management is essential, especially in catering to the different requirements of different forms of traffic.

ITU-T standards for traffic management – coupled with effective measures to increase the transparency of such techniques to consumers – can improve the extent to which commercial incentives align with regulator’s objectives to ensure that the Internet remains true to the principle of free and open exchange of information.

Read the full text authored by Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.

]]>Press release: ITU standards to integrate Internet of Things in Smart Citieshttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/968
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 08:45:35 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=968New expert group to specialize in Internet of Things and its applications

Geneva, 10 June 2015 – ITU members have established a new ITU-T Study Group to address the standardization requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, with an initial focus on IoT applications in smart cities.

The new group is titled “ITU-T Study Group 20: IoT and its applications, including smart cities and communities”. It will be responsible for international standards to enable the coordinated development of IoT technologies, including machine-to-machine communications and ubiquitous sensor networks.

The group will develop standards that leverage IoT technologies to address urban-development challenges. A key part of this study will be the standardization of end-to-end architectures for IoT and mechanisms for the interoperability of IoT applications and datasets employed by various vertically oriented industry sectors.

The deployment of IoT technologies is expected to connect an estimated 50 billion devices to the network by year 2020, impacting nearly every aspect of our daily lives. IoT is contributing to the convergence of industry sectors, with utilities, healthcare and transportation among the many sectors with a stake in the future of IoT technologies.

The new ITU-T Study Group provides the specialized IoT standardization platform necessary for this convergence to rest on a cohesive set of international standards.

]]>Leo Lehmann elected Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 13http://newslog.itu.int/archives/916
Thu, 07 May 2015 09:41:26 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=916Leo Lehmann of Switzerland’s Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) has been elected Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 13 (Future networks and cloud), taking up the position held by Chaesub Lee prior to his election as Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014.

ITU-T Study Group 13 led ITU’s standardization of next-generation networks (NGNs) and now caters to the evolution of NGNs while focusing on future networks and network aspects of mobile telecommunications, including those relevant to the ‘5G’ development of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for 2020 and beyond. Cloud computing forms an important part of this work, with the group developing standards that detail the requirements and functional architectures of the cloud computing ecosystem.

Leo was Vice-Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 13 from 2008 to 2014 and Vice-Chairman of the ITU-T Focus Group on Disaster Relief Systems, Network Resilience and Recovery (FG-DR&NRR) from 2012 to 2014. From 2002 to 2008, he served as Rapporteur on “multimedia service mobility management” in ITU-T Study Group 16 (Multimedia).

An internationally recognized expert, Leo has worked in telecommunications for 23 years and has experience in private industry as well as the public sector. Prior to joining OFCOM in 2002, Leo held senior management positions in network engineering, system design and services at major telecommunications players on both the vendor and operator side of business.

More information on ITU-T Study Group 13 can be found on the group’s homepage.

]]>Press release: ITU to study the network standardization requirements of ‘5G’http://newslog.itu.int/archives/914
Tue, 05 May 2015 13:54:21 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=914Open group to identify the standardization needs of future networks

Geneva, 5 May 2015 – ITU has established a new Focus Group to identify the network standardization requirements for the ‘5G’ development of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for 2020 and beyond. The network studies will be hosted by ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T), benefiting from the strength of ITU-T standardization in wireline communications. These “IMT-2020” systems will enable wireless communication to match the speed and reliability achieved by fibre-optic infrastructure. The potential application fields of IMT-2020 systems, in addition to voice and video, span from healthcare to industrial automation, virtual reality, automated driving, and robotic systems controlled with an imperceptible time-lag. One-millisecond end-to-end latency is necessary for technical systems to replicate natural human interaction with our environment, a goal that experts say should be within reach of future networks.

Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) in China, Japan and Korea see two fields of study as crucial to telecom and ICT standardization as we approach year 2020. The first is to support 5G mobile-wireless systems and ubiquitous smart technologies with the necessary innovations in network infrastructure, and the second is to ensure that Internet of Things (IoT) technologies meet their potential.

These were the two primary outcomes of my consultation with Chinese, Japanese and Korean CTOs last week in Seoul. This consultation was the first in a series of regional consultations that I have initiated as a means to prepare for our annual CTO meeting, where CTOs meet with the management of ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) to discuss strategic priorities for our standardization work.

The meeting issued a communiqué focused on network innovations for 5G and cross-industry IoT deployments with an emphasis on smart cities, two subjects of growing relevance to work underway in ITU-T’s standardization expert groups.

Read the full text authored by Chaesub Lee, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.

]]>ITU, ISO, IEC collaboration yields fundamental cloud computing standardshttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/595
Tue, 09 Sep 2014 07:58:30 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=595ITU, ISO and IEC have approved two new international standards fundamental to the cohesion of cloud computing’s development. The standards provide a terminology foundation to be applied universally across the industry as well as a reference architecture to enable the development of interoperable cloud computing systems and services.

Two recently approved standards, soon to be available online, provide functional requirements for network as a service ‘NaaS’ (ITU-T Y.3512) and infrastructure as a service ‘IaaS’ (ITU-T Y.3513).

ITU-T cloud computing standardization is providing the requirements and functional architectures of the cloud computing ecosystem, covering inter- and intra-cloud computing and technologies supporting ‘XaaS’ (X as a Service). Particularly relevant to this study is the convergence of telecommunication and computing technology inherent to the emerging cloud computing ecosystem. ITU-T thus develops standards enabling consistent end-to-end, multi-cloud management and the monitoring of services exposed by and across different service providers’ domains and technologies.

]]>SDN signalling requirements and protocols near completionhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/572
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/572#respondThu, 31 Jul 2014 11:57:58 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=572Standardized signalling requirements for software-defined networking (SDN) are on course for approval by the first quarter of 2015 following a meeting of ITU-T Study Group 11 (Protocols and test specifications), 9-16 July.

SG11 has given priority to its SDN work in response to strong demand from industry for standards. SG11’s work on SDN’s signalling requirements and protocols aligns with the SDN functional requirements and architectures under development in ITU-T Study Group 13 (Future networks and cloud).

Work-in-progress international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) for SDN include a document detailing scenarios and signalling requirements for software-defined broadband access networks, to which both SG11 and SG13 are contributing. A software-defined broadband access network (SBAN) simplifies network configuration, easing the deployment of new services and improving broadband service provision. Working document Q.SBAN is available here (members only).

SG11 continues to advance its work on a signalling framework for SDN, the subject of a new Supplement to the Q-series Recommendations based on Recommendation ITU-T Y.3300 “Framework of software-defined networking”. SG11’s July meeting brought new additions to the Supplement, ensuring support for end-to-end services when SDN is divided across multiple domains; limiting the challenges posed by caches, firewalls and network address translations, for example, as they relate to interaction with higher layer control systems; and defining the interface needed to provide for detailed or abstracted views of the network able to translate applications’ requirements. Working document Q.Supplement-SDN is available here (members only).

Related work in SG11 is nearing the completion of a standard describing the scenarios and signalling requirements for a unified intelligent programmable interface for IPv6 service deployment. Working document Q.IPv6UIP is available here (members only).

This progression of SDN deliverables has motivated the Joint Coordination Activity on SDN (JCA-SDN) to task a drafting group with the production of a global SDN standardization roadmap, soon to be available online. JCA-SDN coordinates SDN standardization work across ITU and in cooperation with other standards bodies.

The next physical meetings of the groups focusing on SDN are planned for November 2014. For updated information, see the homepages of SG11, SG13 and JCA-SDN.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/572/feed0New ITU-T Global Portal launched with special focus on Regional Participationhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/558
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/558#respondTue, 22 Jul 2014 08:00:12 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=558In 2004 Resolution 54 (Rev. Dubai, 2012) approved at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) resolved to support the creation of regional groups within Study Groups. This resolution aims to increase the participation of developing countries in standardization work and ensure that their needs and interests are understood and taken into consideration.

In response to this resolution, a new Global Portal entry on regional participation has been launched today.

This portal provides information on ITU-T activities in Africa, Asia Pacific, Arab and Americas regions with core focus on activities carried out by the 5 regional groups in Africa, 3 in the Americas, 3 in Arab states and 2 in Asia Pacific. The launch of this portal forms a part of the raising awareness activities carried out under the Action Plans launched by Malcolm Johnson, Director of Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.

ITU-T to fulfill its mandate, has organized a number of meetings and workshops in the different regions to facilitate dialogue with the concerned developing countries and increase their participation in the development of standards and ensure they reap the economic benefits associated with technological development.

These activities are closely linked with Resolution 123 of the Plenipotentiary Conference that called for the three ITU Bureaux to work together and assist in bridging the standardization gap between developing and developed countries. This resolution had developed from the recognition of ITU Membership that developing countries’ have less ability to participate in ITU’s standardization activities, and that major disparities in knowledge and management of standards remain between developed and developing countries.

For contact and further information on the different regions the ITU-T focal points are:

Africa Region: Alexander Ntoko

Americas Region: Cristina Bueti

Arab Region: Bilel Jamoussi

Asia Pacific Region: Xiaoya Yang

Further information on the regional groups and associated activities may be found here

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/558/feed0Cloud computing central to ICT development strategies in Africahttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/502
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/502#respondFri, 23 May 2014 07:22:25 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=502African standardization experts have reiterated the importance of ITU-T’s cloud computing work to the continent, requesting in addition that ITU-T investigate cloud’s implications for Africa’s legal frameworks and overarching ICT development strategies.

A panel discussion at the workshop called for prioritisation of work on cloud computing and in particular implementation of ITU-T standards in establishing cloud security and assurance frameworks that guarantee user data privacy. As part of the workshop’s request for assistance with the legal aspects of cloud computing participants called for ITU-T to devote more attention to cloud service agreements as they relate to quality, security routes, the concept of classes of requirements, and prices of DSL connectivity. The need for evaluation methodologies for the periodic analysis of cloud system performance is another demand African experts plan to address through their work in ITU-T Study Group 13.

African countries will capitalize on ITU-T cloud computing standards as they develop their broadband networks and increase Internet access speeds. Africa employs a futuristic view of telecommunications, with governments’ ICT strategies emphasizing the value of cloud computing to young people in Africa and the need to foster skill development in this domain. The growth of the cloud ecosystem is also expected to result in immediate benefits to the African ICT industry, with local vendors enjoying new business in their supply of equipment solutions to support cloud services.

The standard titled “Service and capability requirements for e-health monitoring services” – classifies e-health monitoring services (EHM) as EHM Healthcare, EHM Rehabilitation and EHM Treatment services, and describes service requirements according to different roles involved in the provisioning of these services (i.e. EHM customer, EHM device provider, network provider, platform provider and EHM application provider). It specifies the EHM capability requirements with respect to different layers of the IoT reference model specified in ITU-T Y.2060 “Overview of the Internet of Things”.

In order to build a technical framework for the implementation of the EHM capability requirements specified by ITU-T Y.2065, making e-health technology deployment easier for technicians, ITU-T (SG13) is currently progressing another work item titled “Capability framework for e-health monitoring services”.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/431/feed0ITU guidelines on establishing a national standardization secretariathttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/405
Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:48:50 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=405ITU-T has launched a set of guidelines for developing countries to establish a ‘national standardization secretariat’ charged with marshaling ICT standardization domestically and representing a country’s interests in the international standardization work of ITU-T.

The Guidelines present a step-by-step roadmap to the establishment of a NSS, spanning from the determination of the legal basis of the entity responsible for its management to best practices in the analysis of resource requirements and the creation of national-level standardization expert groups. Guidance is also offered on the responsibilities, leadership, membership and working methods of each committee or expert group comprising an efficient NSS.

The Guidelines demonstrate the viability of establishing an effective NSS with access to limited resources by outlining a three-tier model of participation in the work of ITU-T:

At the “NSS-General Level”, a country concentrates on high-level ITU-T activities including the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) and the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG). This level of participation accommodates involvement in a limited number of ITU-T Study Groups through the formation of Ad hoc Groups as necessary.

A country participating at the “NSS-General Level” can progress to the “NSS-Study Group Level” through the formation of additional expert groups to engage with the work of specific ITU-T Study Groups.

A country having bolstered its standardization capacity through continued engagement with ITU-T will eventually reach the “NSS-Full Sector Level”, at which they will be actively involved in close to all ITU-T Study Groups. This degree of participation would necessarily demand investment in additional secretariat support functions, including the maintenance of a website and document archival system, and countries would also be encouraged to form national expert groups corresponding to the fields tackled by ITU-T Study Groups.

An Annex to the Guidelines contains further practical information on the operation a NSS and can also be found on the Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) website here…

ITU’s BSG programmeaims to address the disparity between the standardization capacities of developed and developing countries, with the goal of aiding development through standardization’s ability to expand markets, increase quality and decrease costs through heightened trade and technology transfer.

]]>New ITU-T standard on desktop-as-a-service cloud computinghttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/403
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 07:13:32 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=403ITU members have achieved first-stage approval (‘consent’) of a new standard on Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solutions, the latest addition to ITU-T’s growing series of cloud computing standards.

Recommendation ITU-T Y.3503 “Requirements for Desktop as a Service” details the conceptual underpinnings of DaaS, specifies its general and functional requirements and capabilities, and also provides illustrations of these requirements and capabilities with relevant use cases. DaaS, recognized as one of cloud computing’s core service categories, refers to services in which cloud service customers are provided with desktop functions remotely delivered by cloud service providers.

Enhanced security may be one of the most beneficial advantages of the capability to build, configure, manage, store, execute and deliver a user’s desktop functions remotely from the cloud. Responsibility for the security of desktop applications run on a server in a DaaS environment lies with the cloud service provider, ensuring better maintenance of these applications’ security than would be possible were they installed on each user’s PC.

Members also determined Recommendation ITU-T Y.2771 “Framework for Deep Packet Inspection”, the second ITU-T standard on deep packet inspection (DPI), following the November 2012 approval of Recommendation ITU-T Y.2770 “Requirements for Deep Packet Inspection in Next Generation Networks”. DPI is of great value in optimal traffic shaping, widely acknowledged by industry players as an effective means to increase network capacity and tipped to become part of the fundamental technology composition of future networks.

Recommendation ITU-T Y.3300 “Framework of Software-Defined Networking” provides a basis for the further study of SDN by providing its definition, objectives, capabilities, requirements and high-level architecture.

SDN and network virtualization denote perhaps the most significant overhaul of networking technology since the 1970s. Carrier networks have traditionally relied on control and data planes tightly coupled in proprietary solutions, giving rise to increases in network complexity and management and operational costs as upgrades to networks introduced new services and technologies.

In contrast, SDN is a networking technology that allows centralized, programmable control- and data-plane abstraction; separating the control and data planes to give network operators the ability to establish and manage new virtualized resources and networks without deploying new hardware technologies. Alongside the greater flexibility and cost efficiency that SDN affords network operators, its provision of an alternative to the introduction of new hardware has positive implications for environmental efficiency.

]]>Standards collaboration, security and privacy top the list of priorities at IoT workshophttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/318
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/318#respondMon, 24 Feb 2014 12:07:53 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=318Meeting to discuss the development of standards to support the nascent Internet of Things (IoT), a diverse group of experts has emphasized the importance of collaboration among standards bodies, the private sector and government; both in finding their respective roles in an IoT ecosystem growing in complexity, and devising technical solutions and regulations that safeguard security and privacy.

Supported by SAP, the latest company to join the membership of ITU’s standardization arm (ITU-T), the workshop gathered a multi-disciplinary array of experts to discuss the state of play in the IoT sphere with a view to highlighting priorities for its future development.

A keynote presentation given by Daniel Faulk of SAP explored the economic and social drivers of the IoT in areas such as healthcare, sustainability, quality of life and remote management. In focus were the business opportunities arising from investment in new IoT technologies.

The many standards to support the IoT will operate at different layers of the OSI model and, highlighting the importance of standards-body coordination, representatives of ITU-T, IEEE,OGC, oneM2M and OASIS shared insight into existing and forthcoming IoT projects and standards.

Discussions of security and privacy – crucial pieces of the IoT puzzle – permeated every topic on the agenda and ITU and the European Union were charged with exploring their respective roles in developing appropriate regulation in this arena.

The meeting highlighted the value of the open-source community’s contribution to the development of IoT standards, given the rapid market growth possible with open-source solutions that encourage constant iteration and increase the ease with which experts can contribute to their development.

Academic and research institutes have been eligible for ITU membership since 2011 and played a keyrole in the event. The workshop was chaired by Alain Louchez, Managing Director of the Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT) at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The workshop incorporated exhibits from industry, government, research institutes and academia. STMicroelectronics showcased its Smart Home concept. The European OpenIoT project was presented by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications (NICT) displayed its medical body area network. SAP presented videos highlighting some of the organization’s work in the field. OrbiWise showcased its IoT platform, and there was an exhibit from Yokosuka Telecom Research Park (YRP).

The workshop forms part of a series of IoT standards activities in Geneva this week and is followed by the ninth meeting of the IoT Global Standards Initiative (IoT-GSI), 19-25 February, and the tenth meeting of the IoT Joint Coordination Activity (JCA-IoT), 25 February.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/318/feed0New e-Learning Course on the Working Methods of ITU-T Study Groupshttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/287
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/287#respondMon, 27 Jan 2014 15:59:05 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=287The first in a series of new ITU-T e-learning courses is now available on the ITU Academy platform. The course is based on Recommendation ITU-T A.1 “Work methods for study groups of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector”, providing an introduction to the management structures, coordination mechanisms and operating procedures of ITU-T Study Groups.

The development of the e-learning course responds to the revised Resolution 44 of 2012’s World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai, UAE, which mandates that ITU-T implement measures to bridge the ‘standardization gap’ between developed and developing countries.

Revisions to Resolution 44 agreed in Dubai call on ITU-T to explore the use of e-learning channels for training on ITU’s global standards (ITU-T Recommendations). ITU-T has launched the e-learning course on Recommendation ITU-T A.1 in conjunction with ITU’s Development Sector (ITU-D), the hosts of ITU Academy. Work is underway on the next course in the series, targeting Quality of Service (QoS) in mobile networks, and developing countries in particular are invited to suggest topics for future e-learning courses.

Recommendation ITU-T A.1 describes general working methods of ITU-T Study Groups, providing guidelines on the management of meetings, the preparation of studies, the role of Rapporteurs, and the processing of Contributions and Temporary Documents.

The e-learning course is intended for participants in ITU-T standardization work and is especially geared towards new delegates not familiar with the working procedures of ITU-T Study Groups.

The course is two hours in duration, comprising six modules:

Standardization in ITU-T

Managing the study groups

Coordination

Inputs to the study groups

Outputs of the study groups

Further infrastructure supporting the study group process

Each module is a self-contained unit of course content and associated quizzes. On completion of the course, participants can take a final assessment online in which a score of at least 80% will qualify them for a certificate of achievement.

Interested participants are requested to register on the ITU Academy to receive their login credentials and enrolment key.

More information on ITU-T’s Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) programme can be found here

The consent (initiation of the approval process) was achieved at a recent meeting of ITU-T Study Group 13 (Future Networks) in Kampala, Uganda, 4-15 November, at the kind invitation of Uganda Communications Commission. The new standard joins ITU’s growing suite of cloud computing standards as the fifth to be agreed in 2013, following a framework and high-level requirements (ITU-T Y.3501), infrastructure requirements (ITU-T Y.3510), a framework for end-to-end resource management (ITU-T Y.3520), and a security framework (ITU-T X.1600 – yet to be published).

Recommendation ITU-T Y.3511 “Framework of inter-cloud computing for network and infrastructure” describes the framework for the interaction of multiple CSPs that might underlie the fulfillment of a single CSP’s service contracts with its customers.

The standard describes the possible relationship patterns among multiple CSPs – namely ‘peering’, ‘federation’ and ‘intermediary’ – based on several inter-cloud computing use cases and the consideration on different types of service offerings. It continues to introduce the concept of ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ CSPs; the primary being the CSP required to fulfill a service contract with a customer, and the secondary the most immediate CSP that interworks its services and resources with other partnering CSPs to aid the primary CSP in its delivery of services. Building on these concepts, the interaction of CSPs in federation and intermediary patterns is discussed in-depth and Y.3511 concludes with the derivation of functional requirements for inter-cloud computing.

Although not integral parts of the Recommendation, Y.3511 also provides three annexes which detail “Use cases from the inter-cloud perspective”, “Use cases from telecom and non-telecom providers’ views”, and “Abstract service offering models for inter-cloud computing”.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/264/feed0Uganda to host ITU expert group on software-defined networkinghttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/164
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/164#respondThu, 17 Oct 2013 06:40:57 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=164The first meeting of ITU-T’s Joint Coordination Activity on Software-defined Networking (JCA-SDN) is set to take place on 11 November 2013 in Kampala, Uganda, in conjunction with collocated meetings of the expert groups leading ITU-T’s SDN standardization work.

Considered a major shift in networking technology, SDN will give network operators the ability to establish and manage new virtualized resources and networks without deploying new hardware technologies. ICT market players see SDN and network virtualization as critical to countering the increases in network complexity, management and operational costs traditionally associated with the introduction of new services or technologies.

JCA-SDN will report to the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) and is charged with coordinating ITU-T’s standardization work on SDN and related technical topics. As such, one of the JCA’s chief responsibilities will be to ensure the alignment of SG13 work on SDN’s functional requirements and architectures with that of SG11 on its signalling requirements and protocols.

The JCA will take into consideration the SDN work of other standards development organizations (SDOs), forums and consortia, and will act as the first point of contact for organizations interested in contributing to ITU-T’s SDN standardization programme.

Dick was a well-known and respected authority on international cybersercurity and had contributed greatly to ITU’s work in the field over a period of more than ten years.

In August he sent a message to his colleagues: “Dear colleagues at MS and International Standards Community: I have enjoyed my work in the Standards community over the years. But, the time has come for it to end. I’ve learned over this summer that time is VERY precious and my time has ended. Thank you all for your support! —Dick”.

Dick had a wide and varied career including 35 years at the US National Security Agency and 3 at Microsoft. He served in combat during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and was the recipient of numerous service decorations including two National Defense Service Medals, and a Meritorious Service Medal.

He will be sadly missed by all including ITU staff, delegates of Study Groups 13 and 17 and the standards and cybersecurity communities at large.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/135/feed5Algeria to host meetings on standards for IMT, M2M, IoT, Cloud Computing and SDNhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/246
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/246#respondFri, 30 Aug 2013 15:30:54 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=246The first meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 13 Regional Group for Africa (SG13 RG-AFR), the group to coordinate African contributions to the standardization work ofITU-T Study Group 13 (Future networks), will be preceded by a one-day workshop – free of charge and open to all – on “Standardization on IMT, M2M, IoT, Cloud Computing and SDN”. The workshop will, in addition, be followed by a meeting of the SG13 ‘Rapporteur Group’ tasked with developing international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) under Question 5/13 “Applying IMS and IMT in developing country mobile telecom networks”.

The events are being organized by ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and hosted by Algeria’s Regulatory Authority for Post and Telecommunications (ARPT) in Algiers, Algeria, 8-12 September; as follows:

The workshop will provide an overview of ITU-T and, in particular, SG13 work in these areas as well as an opportunity for discussion and knowledge-sharing around regional developments on these topics. It will also feature an introduction to the objectives of SG13RG-AFR, which is expected to prioritize the study of cloud computing and future networks.

The ‘Rapporteur Group’ or task team responsible for Question 5/13 will progress its standardization work on the scenarios and requirements of developing-country implementations of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT-2000 or ‘3G’; IMT-Advanced or ‘4G’), the systems of radiocommunication standards developed and maintained by ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) that enable global mobile telecommunications and high-speed mobile broadband. ITU-T, through SG13, produces complementary standards detailing networking aspects of IMT.

First meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 13 Regional Group for Africa (SG13RG-AFR), 10-12 September:

Within ITU-T Study Groups, Regional Groups aim to ensure that ITU-T Recommendations address the needs of all the world’s regions. As such, Regional Groups play a key role in ITU’s work to ‘bridge the standardization gap’ between developed and developing countries by fostering an inclusive environment where all possess equal opportunity to contribute to and influence the standardization process. SG13RG-AFR will consolidate African regional contributions to the work of SG13, and its first meeting will determine the group’s guiding Action Plan, working procedures and work programme, as well as the schedule of work to be undertaken in preparation for the next meeting of SG13 in Kampala, Uganda, 4-15 November 2013.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/246/feed0ITU wants to hear from youhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/109
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/109#respondThu, 01 Aug 2013 08:11:51 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=109What do you expect from ITU in the future and where should we be directing our efforts to best serve everyone? What do you see as future challenges? We want to hear your thoughts for our strategy and priorities in the coming years: http://www.itu.int/PublicConsultations
]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/109/feed0SDN work gains momentum in ITU-Thttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/117
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/117#respondFri, 28 Jun 2013 08:50:33 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=117Standardization work on software-defined networking (SDN), a key priority for ITU-T in 2013, is progressing well in ITU-T’s Study Group 11 (SG11) with a number of important specifications nearing maturity following a meeting of two specialized groups in June.

SG11 is tasked with developing the signalling requirements and protocols on SDN. The work will align with the functional requirements and architectures developed by ITU-T’s Study Group 13. In addition a Joint Coordination Activity on SDN was recently established to coordinate the work.

Matt Lopez, NEC Corporation and Rapporteur on Question 4/11Signalling requirements and protocols for Bearer and Resource control in emerging telecommunication environments: “ITU-T’s consensus-based standards process provides an opportunity for the industry to agree common objectives for the emerging SDN environment, and resulting standards will do much to unify industry players in their work to introduce SDN on a large scale.”

Draft Recommendations in progress include a document specifying the scenarios and signalling requirements using SDN technologies in Broadband Access Network (BAN). A software-defined BAN (SBAN) simplifies network configuration, making deployment of new services easier and improving broadband service provision. Working document is available here (members only).

Another document provides a gap analysis of SDN work going on across ITU and other standardization bodies as well as a framework, requirements and architecture for signalling in SDN. Working document is available here (members only).

In addition SG 11 experts are working on a Recommendation that describes the scenarios and signalling requirements for a unified intelligent programmable interface for IPv6 service deployment. This working document is available here.

The next physical meetings of the groups focusing on SDN will take place November 2013 in Uganda. For updated information see ITU-T Study Group 11 homepage.

See previous story published after ITU-T SG11 meeting in February 2013 here and a report of a workshop focusing on the topic here.

SDN is a promising route towards the introduction and realization of network virtualization, a major shift in networking technology which will give network operators the ability to establish and manage new virtualized resources and networks without deploying new hardware technologies. ICT market players see SDN and network virtualization as critical to countering the increases in network complexity, management and operational costs traditionally associated with the introduction of new services or technologies.

SDN proposes to decouple the control and data planes by way of a centralized, programmable control-plane and data-plane abstraction. This abstraction will usher in greater speed and flexibility in routing instructions and the security and energy management of network equipment such as routers and switches.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/160/feed0Advisory group looks at patents’ inclusion in standardshttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/127
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/127#respondWed, 27 Mar 2013 13:24:41 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=127Meeting at ITU headquarters in Geneva, 21-22 March 2013, the TSB Director’s Ad Hoc Group on IPR (IPR AHG) has continued making headway in its bid to ensure protection of the integrity of the standards-development process by clarifying aspects of ITU’s Patent Policy and related Guidelines– the Union’s main tool to manage the challenges associated with the incorporation of patents in standards (ITU-T Recommendations).

The licensing of standards-essential patents (SEPs) on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms is a cornerstone of the standards-development process. The incorporation of SEPs on a RAND basis incentivizes the inclusion of cutting-edge patented technology in technical standards, while also ensuring that the holder of a SEP cannot abuse the dominant market position it gains from widespread adoption of a voluntary technical standard.

The IPR AHG has been active for over fiften years, providing a forum for experts to exchange views on IPR matters and offer advice on the best approach to the patent-standard relationship.

In recent months, certain stakeholders as well as competition authorities have raised concerns regarding the increase in standards-related patent litigation as well as the possible use of SEPs to exclude competitors from a market. American and European regulators have in addition expressed concerns with the possible use of SEPs to pressure standards implementers into accepting higher royalties in bi-lateral licensing negotiations – also referred to as patent hold-ups – an act which undermines the aims of RAND to the disadvantage of standards implementers, hurting the consumers ultimately shouldering these higher costs.

Against this backdrop, ITU held a high-profile Patent Roundtable in October 2012 which assembled all the key private-sector and regulatory players to unravel the source of SEP-related litigation and to plot the course to an appropriate remedy.

Acting on the conclusions of this Roundtable, the IPR AHG is currently undertaking an accelerated series of meetings, targeting two specific questions:

the conditions under which companies that have made RAND commitments should or should not be allowed to seek injunctions; and the clarification of the meaning of the word “reasonable” in the RAND context.

The next meeting of the IPR AHG will take place at ITU headquarters in Geneva, 25-26 April 2013.

A video message from the TSB Director to the IPR AHG can be viewed here.

The standards were agreed at a recent meeting of ITU-T Study Group 13 – Future Networks including cloud computing, mobile and next-generation networks. The meeting also agreed the publication of three new technical papers:

Migration scenarios from legacy networks to NGN in developing countries

How to increase QoS/QoE of IP-based Platform

Mobility Management in ITU-T: Its Current development and Next Steps Heading Towards Future Networks

The SG13 meeting finalized the approval of Recommendation ITU-T Y.2705, Minimum Security Requirements for Interconnection of Emergency Telecommunications Service (ETS), and reached first-stage approval (consent) of the first ITU standards on cloud computing:

Following the adoption of a Resolution on Software Defined Networking (SDN) at last November’s World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai, much discussion was also dedicated to planning the course of ITU’s standardization work on this important work area. In addition, ITU-T Study Group 17 participants were invited to discuss the division of work between the two groups as it relates to standards for security in cloud computing.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/128/feed0Rising participation in ITU work on protocols and test specificationshttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/161
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/161#respondFri, 08 Mar 2013 15:19:53 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=161Meeting at ITU headquarters in Geneva, ITU-T Study Group 11 – Protocols and test specifications – received 72 participants from 22 countries, representing a 53 per cent increase over the participation numbers recorded for its previous meeting in June 2012.

The meeting saw substantial progress made in ITU’s collaboration with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and also advanced the group’s ongoing work on software-defined networking (SDN) and conformance and interoperability (C&I) testing. Read news on the meeting’s C&I achievements here.

OpenGeoSMS is a standard maintained by OGC, originally developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Study Group 11 continues to collaborate with OGC with a view to formalizing OpenGeoSMS as an international standard (ITU-T Recommendation). The standard uses Short Message Service (SMS) to exchange location-based information and is considered particularly important in providing relief to individuals affected by natural disasters.

In the interests of greater speed and flexibility in routing instructions, security and energy management of network equipment such as routers and switches, SDN proposes to decouple the control and data planes and allow for programmable interfaces to these planes; letting software do the job traditionally performed by the control plane.

ITU’s standardization work on SDN started in ITU-T Study Group 13 – Future networks including cloud computing, mobile and next-generation networks. SG 13 standardizes SDN’s functional requirements and architectures, and SG 11 thus works closely with SG 13 as it builds on this work by developing SDN’s signaling requirements and protocols.

SG 11’s recent meeting in Geneva received contributions calling for new SDN work items, including:

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/161/feed0New ITU standards define the Internet of Things and provide the blueprints for its developmenthttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/245
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/245#respondWed, 04 Jul 2012 15:20:12 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=245ITU-T Study Group 13 – Future Networks including Cloud Computing and NGN – has approved new standards offering a definition of the Internet of Things (IoT), characterizing the emerging IoT environment, and outlining the functional requirements of machine-oriented communication applications in an NGN context:

Recommendation ITU-T Y.2060, Overview of the Internet of Things

Recommendation ITU-T Y.2061, Requirements for support of machine-oriented communication applications in the NGN environment

Recommendation ITU-T Y.2060 provides an overview of the Internet of Things (IoT), clarifying the concept and scope of IoT, identifying its fundamental characteristics and high-level requirements, and offering adetailed description of the IoT reference model. Additionally, the standardpresents an informative appendix discussing the IoT ecosystem and the business models of which it will be composed.

The definition is accompanied by a qualification which notes that, from a broad perspective, IoT can be perceived as a vision with technological and societal implications; which will, through the exploitation of identification, data capture, processing and communication capabilities, make full use of “Things” to offer services to all kinds of applications, whilst ensuring that security and privacy requirements are fulfilled.

Recommendation ITU-T Y.2061 provides an overview of machine-oriented communication (MOC) applications in next-generation network (NGN) environments; covering the NGN extensions, additions and device capabilities required to support MOC applications. Additionally, the standard’s appendices describe the actors in an MOC ecosystem and the roles they are to play, as well as a number of use cases relevant to the study of MOC applications in an NGN environment.

SG 13 has also approved Recommendation ITU-T Y.2080, Functional architecture of distributed service networking, and has consented the approval of another fourteen new standards, the most noteworthy being Recommendations ITU-T Y.2069, Terms and definitions of the Internet of Things; Y.2705, Minimum Security Requirements for Interconnection of Emergency Telecommunications Service (ETS); Y.2027, Functional Architecture of Multi-connection; and Y.2063, Framework of Web of Things.

]]>http://newslog.itu.int/archives/245/feed0ITU establishes Focus Group on Machine-to-Machine Service Layerhttp://newslog.itu.int/archives/251
http://newslog.itu.int/archives/251#respondMon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:18 +0000http://newslog.itu.int/?p=251The January meeting of the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) has established a new Focus Group on Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Service Layer.

M2M refers to the ability of a machine to sense and measure certain variables, and communicate this information to other machines in a network. Included under the larger umbrella of the “Internet of Things” (IoT), M2M technologies have applications in a number of industries – e-health, fleet management, sales and payment, security and surveillance, intelligent transport systems (ITS) etc.

The group will study and evaluate the M2M landscape and M2M work currently being undertaken by regional and national standards development organizations (SDOs), with a view to identifying a common set of requirements.

The Focus Group will initially focus on the APIs and protocols to support e-health applications and services, and develop technical reports in these areas. It is suggested that the Focus Group establish three sub-working groups: “M2M use cases and service models”, “M2M service layer requirements” and “M2M APIs and protocols.” Strong collaboration with stakeholders such as Continua Health Alliance and World Health Organization (WHO) is foreseen.The Focus Group concept allows for greater operational flexibility and crucially allows non-ITU members and other interested organizations to participate.

Identify a minimum common set of M2M service layer requirements and capabilities, initially focusing on e-health applications and services.

Study APIs and relevant protocols that satisfy the above requirements and capabilities to support the communications between the M2M applications and the telecom networks.

Develop technical reports to address the identified gaps and propose future standardization work for ITU-T developments on M2M.

Support global harmonization and consolidation by inputting its final deliverables to the parent Study Group and other relevant Study Groups as appropriate.

These terms of reference are subject to consultation of the next four-weeks.The Focus Group will work closely with all ITU-T Study Groups, especially Study Groups 13 and 16, with the other ITU sectors (ITU-R, ITU-D) and with other relevant UN agencies, SDOs, forums/consortia, regulators, policy makers, industry and academia. Within the ITU, the group will work particularly closely with the Internet of Things Global Standards Initiative (IoT-GSI).